


It's Not All Black & White

by HowAboutThatSnapback



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Gen, a little bit of racism thrown in, because she's half-black
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-17
Updated: 2017-10-28
Packaged: 2018-12-09 03:22:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11660589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HowAboutThatSnapback/pseuds/HowAboutThatSnapback
Summary: Most people who die and go into fandoms go into plots like Naruto... no, this woman ended up in some universe of Gravity Falls where she grows up in Glass Shard. She has no hopes of meeting any of the Pines family, but boy does fate like to twist things around.Follow Hateya as her fate is inexplicably intertwined with that of the Stan twins...





	1. Name of the Game

Do you know how strange it is to wake up in a world that isn’t yours? One second you’re reading in a coffee shop and then the next you’re dying of an allergy attack and then after that you’re waking up crying?

It’s beyond strange.

I won’t bother to tell you my old name since I’ve gotten a new one. Hateya Winston… who even thought that was a good name to go with Winston? Moving on from this little tidbit, growing up again sucks and the only positive thing is I don’t have to worry about menstruation for quite a few more years.

I had no idea where I was born save that it was an off brand world of my own for a long time. I didn’t pay attention, I was too furious to bother. It took about two or three months being in a baby’s body to understand I was in Glass Shard.

I have to admit, this was a much better option compared to many more dangerous universes like Naruto that people always wrote about getting sucked into. The only bad thing was Bill Cipher and I knew he was either already dead or going to be. I just had to figure out when I was born.

I’ll give you a rundown of the basics before I get to the meat of the story. Call it your entree if you will.

As for everything else I was a rare not-so-rare mixed child. Bad enough those with dark skin got a lot of flak, mixed children had it even worse sometimes.

Mom kept me and my father would send money but would only visit a handful of times. I wasn’t even supposed to know the man was my father, but because of my adult mind trapped in this body I knew already (I’d just have to pretend to be surprised whenever the bomb was dropped on me if it was ever dropped on me).

As expected I was sent to a black school. I learned that I was born around the same time as the Stan twins- though we’ve never had an exact date for when they were born so it varied in theory. All I know is that they’re definitely either born or going to be.

Given that blacks and whites don’t really interact with each other outside of necessity I’d long given up on the thought of meeting any of the Pines who more than likely lived in a predominately white neighborhood.

North or not, it still wasn’t good times.

Now that you have a basis I guess I can get to the main course and let you see the rest of my story on how I inexplicably became part of the Pines timeline.


	2. Coincidental Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hateya meets Stanley in an unlikely way.

Hateya made plenty of friends in her neighborhood and school- the black community tended to be tight-knit in these parts. She’d had numerous aunties, uncles, cousins and grandparents that weren’t blood. That was the same even in her past life in her family. Unlike her past life she had siblings. A big brother- Joshua- and a younger one that was two years younger- Darmian- and an even younger sister named Tasha who was five years younger. Being raised around numerous cousins she knew a little bit about the sibling life but only grew to know more after. They annoyed each other but they truly did love each other despite throwing one another under the bus that was their mother every now and again.

Without any question she'd found a family that could be happy with even though she left her old one behind. She was slow to get over that pain, but thankfully she was a baby and could do enough crying about it without any questions. She'd find comfort in someone's arms whenever those bouts of emotion came up. By the time she was four she'd stopped dwelling so much on her old life and focused on her new one as much as she could.

And then one day came when she found that fate would bring her to meet someone that she would later find herself to be intertwined with by fate for the rest of their lives.

She was ten at the time and she’d asked her if she could go with her friends and their parents (which were one of their neighbors from down the street) to the beach. She hesitated, but did agree and told her to be careful and stick to the group.

Hateya was excited. She’d put on her swimsuit and flip-flops and went with her friends to the beach. Hateya’s older brother- Joshua- came as well since Charline’s mom would need some extra help watching the kids and most of the other moms were busy with their babies or helping each other. She was taking the children off their hands.

Hateya- being the most mature of the children- helped as best she could within reason. She couldn’t go acting all like an adult, but sometimes she couldn’t help it when it came to the babies getting into things. She'd always been a bit of a mother hen even in her past life as a child so why should that change.

One of the younger kids- Darius- was wandering too close to the water when no one was paying attention. The toddler was often a slippery one- one that was quiet even as a small baby.

“Darius!” She shouts and runs after the baby in hopes of getting to him before he gets to the water.

“Hey, hey, water isn’t for babies your size,” a white kid says, blocking Darius’ way. He picks him up and turn him around so he’d walk back but instead Darius tries to go around him back towards the ocean. “Hey! What’d I just say?”

Hateya stops near the boy, wary but grateful for his help. “Thanks for stopping him.”

He looks up at her with the toddler in his arms and asks. “Is he your little brother?”

“Cousin,” she says out of habit and then picks up the little boy from the white boy's arms and scolds. “Darius, you know better.”

The white boy looks familiar to her, but she can’t quite place it…

“Are you here by yourself?” Hateya asks when she doesn’t notice any other white folks on the beach- which was odd to her as this was the only time black folks could really be on the beach without too much hassle from white folks

“No, I’m here with my brother,” he answers. “We’re working on a secret project and I was looking around for some drift wood.”

This tickles at her memory. “What secret project?”

“If I told you it wouldn’t be secret,” he insists, hands now on his hips.

Hateya shakes her head- let the boy have his secrets since she'd probably never see him again. “Well, have fun. Thanks again…”

“Stan Pines!”

That made her stop and stare for a moment- Stan Pines. As in Stanley Pines from that tv show she loved right before she died- Gravity Falls. He was only a couple of years older than her and she met him purely by chance- or at least she seems to think. She never went out of her way to look for him so she never expected something like this to happen.

“What’s your name?”

“Hateya, but everyone calls me Hat.”

“Nice to meet you, Hat. I hope to see you again!”

“Sure,” she says absentmindedly and then rushes off when the toddler starts wining and squirming for a diaper change.

_I just met Stan… oh my gosh I just met Stan!_

"What's with the look?" Joshua asks as she hands off Darius to Ms. Charlotte.

"What look?" Hat asks, expression now guarded.

"That look you get when you hear Smokey Robinson sing," Joshua elaborates. "What's got you like that?"

Hat shrugs. "I saw a cute boy."

Not a complete lie- Stan was certainly a cute kid in her eyes before she fell into this world.

Joshua's eyebrows go up. "Is that so? Do I get to meet the guy?"

"Probably not, I don't think I'll see him ever again," she shrugs and then notices one of the babies trying to eat the bucket of sand. "Helen, no!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I set the skeleton up in a chat with some friends and thus... it has led me to be able to make this for you.


	3. Chapter 3

Despite that chance meeting she never went out of my way to run into the Pines family. She never saw a point when their worlds were so different. Blacks and white didn’t mix much and that was a fact even up north where they’d ended slavery earlier than their southern counterparts. Even if she was half white she was too black to interact with white folks. She accepts this fact as she could never pass for a white woman. The Pines family would exist, but she wouldn't be apart of their story despite knowing it.

And yet that didn’t stop the chance encounters on the beach- they were always there it seemed. They were near the black part of the beach near the times when most of the white folks weren't around. She didn't know if this was because her being there as a sort of anomaly or because this would happen no matter the universe.

For a while it was just Stanley she’d run into. He was nice and talkative and he seemed to be friendly enough though he'd often run off since he left his brother alone. He didn’t seem to care about her skin and she appreciated that though she knew it was something that was taught. She hoped that he would keep this mindset throughout his life but she knows the chances.

Her first meeting with his brother wasn’t as smooth as her first with him.

When he’d caught her staring at his hands he hid them behind his back and glared at her, daring her to day something.

“Did I count twelve fingers?” She asks.

“Yeah,” he says defensively.

“Huh… weird… but cool,” she says, trying to go about this as a kid who’s never even heard of polydactylity. “Can I see your hands?”

He stares at her suspiciously. “Why?”

“I wanna see how they work. Are they normal or are they like those little dangly ones my cousin was born with that had to be cut off?”

“They’re functional,” he answers and then holds out a hand and wiggles it.

She grins with absolute delight and bounces towards the older boy. “Can I hold your hand?”

He seems taken aback by the request- so taken aback he pulls his hand to his chest protectively. “Um…”

“You don’t have to, I was just curious.”

“Ford! What’s taking you so long?!” Stan brightens up seeing the familiar black girl and says. “Hey, this is the girl I told you about. Hey, Hat.”

“Hey, Stan,” she replies with a polite wave. “How’s it going?”

“Good. Still working on our project.”

“Which you still haven’t told me what it is yet.”

“Secret!” Stan insists.

The two talk like friends though it was clear that they weren’t… yet by Stan’s persistence. Ford observed the two’s interaction with quiet interest.

Hateya rolls her eyes. “Whatever.”

Joshua roams over. “Hey, who’re these two?”

Protective brother as always.

“This is Stan and Ford. I run into Stan sometimes while we’re on the beach.”

“Hi, nice to meetcha!” Stan chirps.

“Hi,” Ford mutters, not liking the scrutinizing glare from the teen.

“Don’t mind him,” Hateya says and then looks up at her brother. “What’s up?”

“Mom wanted to meet ‘em,” Joshua says. “She and our aunties noticed that you talk them sometimes.”

Hat whines in embarrassment. “Nooooo! Mom always makes it awkward!”

“We’d love to meet your ma! Right Ford?”

Ford gives his twin a small glare that says otherwise.

“Maybe next time,’ Joshua says slowly. “Once youse three are better friends.”

“Who says we’re gonna be friends?” Hateya demands- she’s never made any effort to and it seems the fates are putting it so that she has no choice in the matter.

“Just a feeling,” he shrugs.

He gets these feelings sometimes and almost always they’re right without a doubt; it annoys the crap out of her sometimes. It reminded her of her mother back at home who also had that knack.

“Yeah, whatever. Isn’t it time for dinner anyway?”

“Oh crap!” Stan gasps and looks out at the setting sun. “Ma’s gonna kill us!”

“GO!” Ford says, pushing his twin in presumably the direction of their home.

“See you later, Hat!” Stan calls back and then focuses wholeheartedly on running back home.

Hat shakes her head looking after them. “White people are so weird…”

“You’re half-white,” Joshua teases.

“Shut up!” She shouts, hitting his arms and earning a chuckle. “Let’s just go home. I’m ready for a nice bath.”

“Okay. Hey, don’t be afraid to have your little boyfriends come over.”

“That’s it!” He takes off down the beach faster than she can run, but she’ll get him back for that comment sooner or later. She can always add salt to his sweet tea.


	4. Let Fate Have Her Way

At some point Hateya just gave up. She gave into fate’s game and allowed herself to be put in situations where she’d run into Stan and/or Ford whenever it decided. Stan had warmed up to her immediately- he was just that kind of kid- but Ford was taking some time. She understood that and gave him space and time to warm up to her.

Seeing them not in cartoon form was… odd for her at first. They were real people and while they looked like themselves they didn’t at the same time. Thick, curly brown locks, brown eyes, sunburnt skin, but they were real and flesh and blood and proportioned correctly. _They had necks!_

Eventually there came a time when they started coming over regularly- as Joshua predicted- and their mother would make extra food for them (as if there weren’t already large portions of leftovers otherwise). She got to be comfortable around them and them with her. Granted they never went to the same schools but they certainly did find time to hang out with each other. They became her "best white friends" as she liked to call them.

Upon this Hat got to thinking. She could change things… she could keep Bill from hurting her new friends, but it’d have to go differently… She didn’t want to alter the timeline too much as that would destroy any chance of Bill being defeated in this lifetime but just enough that Ford wouldn’t go through dimensions… hopefully…

She’d heard of several outcomes and because this multiverse thing is real she could be in any alternate universe within Gravity Falls and instead it could be reverse portal or some other entirely that she'd never even heard of. Either way it’d never be the same with her there mentally plotting out every loophole and catch- even if she did nothing she would find things would change.

She wrote in code several little notes on future plans and thankfully her nosy family members never questioned them or asked too much on what she was doing. She was young enough that "just doodling" wouldn't be called into question. The coded notes would be in Ford’s future cipher six times out of ten while the rest would be in her own made up cipher that she'd change up every once in a while. She never let either Ford or Stan see it- she’d be damned if she introduced them to the horrors earlier. Those notes were well hidden well before they ever came over.

Writing out her plans she came to a few conclusions of factors that  _needed_ to change in order to have a better outcome.

One factor that would play a big part- regardless of whatever paths she intended to travel- would be getting Stan to care even a little about school as him being able to complete high school would be nice or at the very least take the sting out of Filbrick's future words about riding on Ford's coattails. Another large factor would be to- hopefully- push them to have more friends than what they already have (which was her and her large family)- multiple friends means options to run to in times of trouble to talk things out with a clear head and she didn’t fancy being their only other friend.

And even she might not be able to change is Ford’s project being broken because depending on where Stan goes he might still break the perpetual motion machine and this would ultimately lead to Stan getting kicked out by Filbrick so she’d have to work out a plan for him that’d keep him from getting too low but even then it might not work.

Despite careful planning there was still the chance that fate wouldn't allow her to change a single major thing that happens.

She groans with frustration and crosses out the coded plans in front of her and then throws them away.

“Homework?” Damian asks casually, recognizing the groan of agony over a problem that wouldn't solve itself.

“Yeah,” she grumbles as she taps her foot against the ground. “I’m just too tired to deal with it right now.”

“Good luck with that. Better not fail,” Tasha says form her place on the couch as she changes the channel.

“Thanks,” Hateya grumbles sarcastically to her sister, glaring at the piece of paper in front of her.

_No matter what I do it can still go exactly like it did in canon… how do I compensate for that?_

She realizes that she can't. She can only work with what she has and only control herself. That was a lesson she'd only learned closer to her death and had grasped with her new life.

"You're welcome," Tasha hums cheerfully.

The best part about being young again was that she could give into her childish impulses without anyone expecting any more from her. With that being said she gave into the urge to shove her sister off the couch with her foot and smirks triumphantly at the thud that followed.

She whines and looks back at Hateya with a watery glare. "Meanie!"

Hateya had to admit she felt a little bad about that, but she stood by her decision. "Don't be so smug next time."

"I'mma tell momma!"

"Go ahead and tell her!" Hateya insists.

"No one's telling momma anything," Joshua says as he enters the room. "Now what happened?"

"Hat pushed me off!"

"She deserved it being a smart aleck!"

Joshua looks to the heavens as if searching for strength before heaving a sigh. "Alright, you two need to get away from each other. Hat why don't you go over to Dorothy's or something?"

"I'll just go to my room," Hat says- the thought of dealing with racist folks that they'd inevitably run into didn't appeal to her.

As she walks out gives Tasha a face by scrunching her face up and giving her a bit of a sneer. Tasha makes a face back- similar save for the fact she stuck her tongue out and rolled her neck- and soon settles back and begins tormenting Damian as they watch whatever happens to be coming on tv.

Hateya shakes her head as she enters her bedroom and she pauses to look around. She had to share with Tasha so there were two twin sized beds shoved on each side of the room. Tasha's was more childish, cluttered with toys and dolls while Hat's was neater. She had some toys but she wasn't all that interested in such things. She outgrew them over a decade ago.

She crawls into her bed and looks at her poorly scrawled notes on the timeline and what she could- no would be willing- to alter. There were possibilities she couldn't even feasibly conceive as her mind had it's limitations and she accepted this.

 _Maybe I should just call it as I see it?_   She wonders vaguely.

She decides to procrastinate- as she's done since before she died and was reborn. The matter could wait- she had a quite a few years to go. After all she and the boys were still in elementary school- granted the boys were two years away from entering middle school and middle school flew by very quickly- there was more than enough time for her to hash out the details of their teenaged lives and thereon.

With a yawn and cuddles her stuffed bear and closes her eyes. She could afford a nap. It's not like anything will change that quickly.


End file.
